Joe Torre's announcement hardly came as a surprise: right-hander Derek Lowe will start Game 1 of the NL division series for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lowe will be followed by righty and 16-game winner Chad Billingsley in Game 2 and then right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, who has a 9-10 record. Torre, speaking before the NL West champions' game Saturday night at San Francisco, said he hadn't decided whether Lowe would come back on short rest for a potential fourth game. He will determine that based on how the series is going, though Greg Maddux could wind up a candidate.